Even the most ardent Hollywoodbets Sharks fan should be honest and admit that apart from their team not deserving it given their wretched season until now, their team’s chances of making the Vodacom URC top eight were already radically diminished by the time they faced the Ospreys.
In the Bridgend game the Sharks did not play well, and much like the Stormers in Cape Town earlier in the day, were blighted by errors that prevented them from hitting first gear, even though at the off it was clear that the Sharks did travel to Wales with some hope as they bristled with intent from the kick-off.
However, they looked like they were shifting a gear when Springbok loosehead prop Ox Nche was joined by fellow World Cup winner Vincent Koch in coming onto the field in the second half. The Ospreys scrum crumbled under the onslaught, but unfortunately so did the home team’s resolve to try and fight against that Sharks strength.
To be fair, it did look like the dominant Sharks scrum at that point could wreak physical damage on their opponents, but it was still undeniable that when the Ospreys front row men went off injured and uncontested scrums were called, the Durban team’s big weapon was blunted.
They’d succeeded in coming back to within four points, 21-17, and looked poised to take control, but without the scrum dominance they were easy to defend against, even though the hosts had been obligated to take a player off when uncontested scrums were called, and that score was the end score.
Fought until the end against all odds 🦈🖤@vodacom #urc#OSPvSHA pic.twitter.com/ANlSg9gkoj
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) April 18, 2026
Given the role the uncontested scrums played in determining the result, Sharks coach JP Pietersen was right afterwards to question the decision.
“In the second half we got more dominance through the scrums. We had an unbelievable three scrums where we dominated them and scrummed them off the ball,” said Pietersen.
“That was good to see and obviously we were five metres out from the line. We scrum scrummed them off the ball, we only get a five metre scrum back (no penalty), and then their prop gets injured. To be honest, that is a question mark.
"We don’t know, did he get injured or were the Ospreys trying to take the contest away from us? We were confident of getting a scrum penalty, which probably would have changed the game.
“We don’t know for sure (if the player, Garron Philips, was injured) and I can’t talk on behalf of the Ospreys, but it certainly took the contest away from the game.”
It did indeed, and it was a massive leg up for the Ospreys, who found it much easier to hang on than would have otherwise been the case had the Sharks continued to strangle them and drive them back at scrum time. Another try to give the Sharks a full house of log points through a bonus point win would have just about kept their slender top eight qualification hopes alive, although only just.
As it stands, the Sharks are effectively out of the race even if they do retain a slight mathematical chance - a full house of log points in their last three games, starting with Edinburgh in Edinburgh on Friday night, will push the Sharks to 49 points.
There are currently six teams ahead of the Sharks on the cusp of reaching that 49 point mark with three matches remaining - the fourth placed Lions on 48, Ulster on 47, Munster and Cardiff on 46, the eighth placed Bulls on 45 and ninth placed Connacht on 44.
It is true that every game that counted for the Sharks’ quest for a top half finish went against them at the weekend, with the Connacht win over the Stormers particularly hurtful but also Cardiff’s come from behind win over Scarlets in Llanelli. Munster also did the business away against Benetton and of course the Bulls got full points against the Dragons.
It was always going to be a bridge too far, but the journey may still have had some way to go had they got across the line at the Brewery Field. Instead they head to Edinburgh to face the team coached by their former coach Sean Everitt with, like their opponents, only pride to play for.